Skyrider
by CrackedCompass
Summary: Arthur Kirkland, otherwise known as Agent King, is the best spy that the UK has to offer. He is called to the United States to help solve the kidnapping of a Canadian agent by a Russian terrorist, and save the world along the way.
1. Chapter 1

Arthur pressed his back against the cold wet brick wall, listening to the noise of his beating heart and the raindrops hitting the pavement of the cold and dark London Street. Arthur glanced to the other side of the red door, glancing at his older brother, Allistor and his fiery red hair.

The brothers were the best agents that the United Kingdom had to offer, specialising in areas of kidnapping and counterterrorism. They had foiled attempts to assassinate figures like the Prime Minister, and even the Queen, as well as solved kidnappings that had the whole country captivated.  
They were Agent King, and Agent Knight, brothers who were unstoppable against the crime-lords of London.

Currently they were on the case of tracking down a missing Greek diplomat, and all sources pointed to the same reoccurring crime-lord, whom had made London his home. The same crime-lord who illustrated kidnappings and assassinations all over the city and mainland Europe and had also managed to avoid capture whilst being such a notable figure. This man made the Brit's blood boil with rage every time a dead body turned up with his signature rose, or a figure had suddenly disappeared overnight.

When the coast was deemed clear, Arthur stepped in front of the red door as Allistor ducked behind him and began to pick the lock with record-speed. The red door creaked open and the agents slid in and became consumed with the darkness; adapting to it whilst still being ready to handle any threat. As silent as mice, the agents crept in the darkness, avoiding any light that came through the windows. They ducked under the tables of the closed down factory, noting the areas that were covered in dust, and the others that weren't.

Their job was to locate the kidnapped diplomat, get him and get out. More police and other agents were waiting outside for them, waiting for the opportunity to storm the building with force.

The agents froze when they noticed a spotlight move across the wall as a guard walked by, aiming his torch at the darkness. Arthur ducked under the table and silenced himself as the guard walked by. Arthur watched the man's legs pass in front of his face, before crawling out of his hiding spot and stalking his prey like a tiger in hunting. Arthur took the fibre-wire and pulled it off of his utility belt, strapping the thick string around his hands as he crept closer to his unknowing victim. And then he pounced. Wrapping the fibre-wire around the man's neck, effectively silencing him, Arthur used all of his strength to pull his victim down, forcing him to drop his torch in the struggle to breathe as Arthur dragged him to the floor. The victim could barely make a noise as Arthur tightened his grip, watching the man twitch and spasm under the Brit's power. Satisfied with his work, Arthur dragged his victims limp body underneath a desk, effectively hiding his work.  
He finally noticed his brother again, and gestured with his hands.

 _'_ _Be vigilant'_ He signalled by pointing to his eyes, before gesturing to the area around him, trying to communicate that there could be more of them.  
Allistor smirked, understanding his brother's message and under the cover of darkness, they continued to scout the area. A grunt came from the back room, where light shone out from under the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor, Arthur and Allistor knew that they had found their target. After circling the area and making sure that there were no more guards, the brothers pressed their backs against the walls before the door. Arthur took out his wrist watch, which doubled as a communicator: truly the height of British technological innovation.

"Closing in, enter in t-minus 5," Arthur whispered into his watch.

"Ready, lad?" Allistor whispered, preparing his handgun.

"Go." Arthur confirmed.

With one heavy bang, Allistor's boots kicked the door open, revealing an empty storeroom with one weakly hanging lightbulb. Underneath the lightbulb in the centre of the room sat a figure in a weak wooden chair, wearing a dirty white shirt and black pants, with a straw bag covering his head.  
However, something didn't seem right, the man was alone… not usual for a kidnapping case, in silence, Arthur and Allistor glanced around the room, unsure of how to treat the situation. The busted in expecting to see a firing squad of kidnappers who were ready to defend their expensive victim, not the victim literally sitting there for the taking.

"What the…" Allistor whispered, feeling as uncomfortable as Arthur.

Suddenly, a loud noise rocketed through the brothers ears, making them gasp in pain, Arthur cried out as they were overwhelmed by dust and debris as they felt the ceiling collapse around them.

"FUCK! GET DOWN!" Arthur heard Allistor cry as he felt his brother push Arthur to the ground, only before they were crushed by the falling concrete. Arthur gasped loudly, breathing in the thick dust and feeling his lungs be crushed under the weight.  
Arthur wheezed in pain as the dust finally settled, with minimal damage being done to the building, with the rubble crushing the two agents.

"Allistor…" Arthur wheezed, looking around for any sign of his older brother under the concrete slabs, desperate to see some sign of him, rather than feel his brother's body pressed into his back. _"Allistor…"_ Arthur gasped when he noticed his brother's dusty hand sticking out from under the rumble, right next to Arthur. Arthur forced his hand out from under the concrete and grasped the warm hand, touching his brother's bloodstained fingertips. "Fuck... It's ok, we'll get you out of there…" Arthur wheezed, relieved at the sight of his brothers fingers moving, the sign of life that Arthur had been internally begging for.

Suddenly, Arthur saw a figure move from the corner of his eye, Arthur began to wiggle out of his trap, managing to pull his torso out from under the rubble, revealing Allistor's bleeding back as he pulled away the rubble. Despite this, the brothers were still hopelessly trapped and gravely injured as Arthur's legs were still squashed under the rubble. Arthur glanced behind him to see that the kidnapped victim had stood up, having being completely missed by the collapsed ceiling.

 _"_ _What an amazing aim…"_ A familiar accent purred as the man pulled the straw sack off of his head, revealing a tuft of glossy blonde hair and piercing sky-blue eyes. The man smiled, sending a shiver down Arthur's spine when he finally registered who he was facing.

 _"_ _Bonnefoy…"_ Arthur spat.

"Agent King!" Francis cried out, as though he was greeting an old friend, "or can I call you Arthur? Hm?" Arthur frowned, unsettled at the fact that this international criminal now knew his true identity.

Francis tilted his head to the side, as he stepped over a small wall of rubble and concrete, getting closer to the Brit.

"Do you know how long I've waited for this?" Francis asked as he revealed a handgun from behind his back. "You are your brother; you the King and he your Knight, vulnerable and weak…"

"The diplomat is dead… isn't he?" Arthur asked.

"Wow. You're mortal enemy stands before you holding a gun, and you are still concerned with your work?" Francis chuckled. _"You were irritating until the end, Kirkland._ And, oui; you are right…" Francis lifted the handgun towards Arthur, "you were chasing after a dead man."

Arthur couldn't take his eyes off of the weapon, dreading what came next. However, when Francis shot, the bullet did not find Arthur…. But Allistor. Allistor cried out in pain as he tried to move out from under the rubble, however the weight and the bullet in his back stopped that.

"He's not coming back from that…" Francis pointed out. "You and you're brother were the bane of my existence. However." Francis bent over, so his head hovered over Arthur, who was too stunned and terrified to speak. "You were the worst. I want you last. Hm… Perhaps I shouldn't kill you…"

The shock prevented Arthur from speaking, all he could do was listen to the Frenchman speak and the furious beating of his own heart, as well as feel his older brother slip away as he writhed in the pain from the gunshot.

Francis' sickeningly twisted smile disappeared when he glanced upward, hearing the noise of other officers approaching the level, soon to surround him. Francis glanced down at Arthur, resuming his smile, "it turns out that you're not alone. Oh well. There goes my fun. Au revoir, Arthur Kirkland."

Suddenly, following the bang of a gunshot, everything turned black around the agent as he dissolved into silence and coldness.

Arthur didn't know how long it was, all he knew was that he couldn't move, and he couldn't open his eyes. He listened to people panic around him, but he remained indifferent, consumed by the alluring peacefulness of the dark. He fell in and out constantly, waging a war against the bullet lodged into his chest, as it pulled him closer towards death. The pain became so bad, Arthur could barely remember his own name, but yet, all he knew was that he had to fight it. Despite how tempting it was, he could not allow the darkness to take him away.

Suddenly, Arthur could open his eyes… and all he could see was a beaming bright white light, Arthur dreaded that light meaning that he had finally lost his fight… He internally begged to continue, he didn't want to die, there was too much left for him to do…

"Arthur!" A familiar voice cried.

Arthur squinted as his vision began to return to him as his eyes began to adjust to the sudden influx of powerful lights, to his relief, what he first thought was death was simply a ceiling light…

"What?" Arthur wheezed, his dry throat relinquished at the presence of fresh air.

"Are you here…? Come on, bud, wake up…" A soothing voice encouraged.

Arthur tried to register what was going on, however he could not ignore the aching pain in his chest, which impacted his mobility. Arthur glanced at the white bedside table, with the first splash of colour he had seen being bright purple and yellow flowers, alongside a cute get-well card.

He glanced beside his bed to see two men in suits standing by his bed, with the shorter one holding another box-flower arrangement.  
He recognised these men as his co-workers, fellow agents…

"Gilbert, Kiku… Fancy seeing you two here…" Arthur wheezed, his consciousness slowly returning to him.

"You made it…" Gilbert sighed, smiling sweetly.

"They were afraid you wouldn't make it as w—"the Japanese man cut himself off, before walking around the bed to place the flower arrangement on the bedside table. Arthur was too dazed and confused to register what Kiku had said, and instead focussed on Gilbert, who just stared at him silently, and somewhat sympathetically.

"What's going on?" Arthur groaned.

"You were shot in the chest. It turns out that Bonnefoy had placed a bomb on the level above you, and set it off when you walked into the room," Gilbert explained.

"Oh…" Arthur muttered, unable to completely process the memory, but yet… he didn't want to. And then it suddenly came back all at once, and hit Arthur's mind like a bullet. "Where is Allistor?"

Gilbert and Kiku remained silent, and the atmosphere within the hospital room became heavy and thick.  
And the reality slowly began to dawn on the young agent like a haunting sunrise…

It took another month of rehabilitation and heavy pain medication before Arthur was discharged from hospital, and could finally plan a funeral for his brother.  
Arthur dreaded it, he had cried so much, he could cry no more. He spent hours sitting by the window in his apartment with his head hung and his eyes focussed on the floor, unsure about how to handle the reality of the situation.

The funeral was the most pathetic thing Arthur had ever seen, and he even considered leaving halfway through it. The brothers had no other siblings, they shared a dead mother, and Allistor's father had disappeared to Scotland. Their job had consumed so much of their lives: a social life was impossible, so there were no personal friends other than other agents… sadly… it was impossible for an agent to pass maintaining the national security of the United Kingdom to stop by the funeral. So as a last resort to have at least some kind of crowd for Allistor, Arthur had invited a group of men Allistor sometimes watched soccer games with at their local pub.  
Arthur had to lie about his brother's life… he was silenced from talking about Allistor's work, and denied the ability to disclose just what a service Allistor had done for the country.

He thanked the people who could attend for attending as they lined up to leave the funeral, Arthur could barely look at the people as he hopelessly mutters 'cheers', 'thanks for coming' and 'thank you'.  
However, one person remained behind, someone who Arthur had never seen before. Arthur couldn't complain, at least people were coming to see Allistor off. This person stood in front of Arthur, and listened to Arthurs pathetic thanks, but he didn't leave.

"Excuse me, Arthur Kirkland…" The man said in a charming Italian accent, producing his hand and offering the depressed Brit a handshake.

"Yes," Arthur muttered as he took the Italian's hand, finally putting in the effort to look up at the man before him. The Italian still wore a smile, despite the situation and stared at Arthur with intense brown eyes, his hair was a deep cinnamon shade and a protruding curl caught the Brits attention.

"My name is Feliciano Vagaras, I work for the CIA," The Italian began, "I have been an admirer of you and agent Knights work for a long time. I am sorry to approach you at such a personal time. However, the news of his death really hit the heart of the CIA agents. You have America's condolences."

Arthur couldn't help but smile at the fact that someone at the funeral was there to really honour the real Allistor. "Thank you."

"However… I also come to you… asking for help…" Feliciano sighed.

Arthur frowned, "what?"

"The CIA needs your help," Feliciano explained, "one of our agents have been kidnapped and all of our resources have failed to find him, we need your help."

"I don't do that anymore," Arthur pointed out coldly, defensively crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you even know what happened to me three months ago?"

"Yes, we do," Feliciano pointed out. "But we are desperate here! This agent is extremely important, and the man who kidnapped him is extremely dangerous!"

Arthur scowled, feeling the Italians desperate and intense stare break down his emotional barriers, "Just how important is it that this agent is recovered?"

"It means the international security of the United States of America." Feliciano explained. _"Everything."_


	2. Chapter 2

"Agent Stealth, otherwise known as Matthew Williams, went missing around four months ago. All of our resources were put to trying to find him; however we have received no ransom or no other clues to where he is, or why he was taken." Feliciano explained as the plane jolted a little from the turbulence. The plane was obviously privately owned, multiple large seats faced each other in pairs, with a small coffee table placed between each. Arthur felt himself sink into the comfortable chair as he put on his seatbelt, following the instruction of the light that shone above the two agents.

"Right, did anyone see it?" Arthur asked, trying his hardest to appear interested.  
He didn't know why he agreed to do this; he much less understood why MI6 agreed to this as well… He still dreaded the idea of another kidnapping case; his wounds were still fresh from the loss of Allistor. However, he couldn't explain the feeling of dread, and his questioning of why he is continuing to do the job that took away his brother.  
He came to realise that he may have agreed to take this case to fill the void that his brother took away from him, besides, he couldn't say no to the desperate glare in Feliciano's eyes.

"Another agent was there. You see, like in the UK: American agents have assigned partners as well," Feliciano explained. "As soon as we land in Washington you'll meet him and the other agents working on the case," Feliciano sighed before looking at Arthur with a sympathetic smile, "it really means a lot that you agreed to do this, especially during this time. Thank you."

The Italians smile warmed the Brits damp heart, however, he still could not produce a smile, "It's fine. I know that I wouldn't be doing anything anyway; I may as well make good use of my time. What is so important about this agent?"

"Matthew Williams is a relatively new agent; he originally started out in our reformation program. If he was to speak to his kidnappers or his knowledge is abused then the national security of the United States is at risk. He knows too much," Feliciano explained.

"What about who kidnapped him. You mentioned that the Kidnapper was dangerous," Arthur pointed out.

"Ivan Braginski notorious for issuing threats against the United States, as well as performing kidnappings and officials. His agenda stems from the International relations between America and Russia, to Americas involvement in wars. He believes that America's ambition will cause the end of society, and believes that it is his duty to end it; so essentially: he's a paranoid madman who knows how to utilise terror."

"Great," Arthur hissed under his breath.

"He's dangerous to everyone around him, even people who work with him turn up dead, only displaying the lack of trust that he has. It's quite sad, actually. So you can imagine the height of concern that we have for Matthew. The boy is fragile…"

"I see…" Arthur muttered, resting his head against the wall and glancing out the window to see the wing of the plane stretch over a blanket of clouds. "I doubt that we won't have a ransom for much longer. If he has an agenda, he has to have a reason for kidnapping Agent Williams."

"That's what we assumed, however, it's been months. We're worried… There are many things that Matthew can do, and we fear what will happen to him, and what it will mean for us." Feliciano explained, "That's when we decided that we needed outside help. We reached out to MI6, and they responded with a recommendation. However, before we could reach you _…_ "

Arthur frowned as his chest tensed, realising what Feliciano was talking about: they were going to ask for help from Allistor as well, however, they could only get to one half of the legendary partnership. _"Right."_

"I'm sorry."

"No. It's fine." Arthur hissed, grinding his teeth as he spoke. _"I'm fine."_

Feliciano looked away, obviously feeling guilt for his admission. However, Arthur knew that he couldn't be able to avoid his brother's existence, if anything, he cursed at himself: he should be happy that the CIA wanted him as well… but yet, his memory brought Arthur pain.

Arthur decided that sleeping wasn't worth the hassle, he knew that if he did: he would only be forced to relive the shock of that painful memory.

Arthur could feel a rush of relief as the plane landed; however, he couldn't help but dread the task before him. He was greeted by a chilly Washington night as he stepped out of the plane. A car waited for the two agents at the bottom of the stairs. Arthur couldn't help but marvel at the grandeur and style of the CIA; everything was pristine and organised, but yet: it lacked that familiar charm of MI6 that Arthur was used to. The driver didn't speak to Feliciano or Arthur as they were driven from the airport to a grand hotel, Feliciano instructed that this was where Arthur was going to stay during his time in Washington, and once again: he made it a point to remind Arthur of the level of gratitude felt by the CIA towards him.  
With this in mind, Arthur fought to remind himself of the duty he was doing: a young 'fragile' agent was in the grasp of a mad-terrorist, he needed his help.

Allistor would have been happy to accept the challenge, and would have been proud of Arthur for handling it alone, especially at such a painful time.

The next morning, despite suffering from another sleepless night; Arthur met Feliciano in the lobby at the agreed time, determined to appear as the flawless British agent that the CIA needed and imagined him to be.

In his entire life, Arthur never imagined that he would be walking over the symbol of the CIA, his feet stepping over the picture of a powerful bald eagle on the polished marble flooring of the CIA building. Feliciano led Arthur through multiple doors and up multiple floors via the elevator, at every turn Arthur marvelled at the working men in tight and professional suits, some even had guns latched onto their sides or underneath their tailored jackets.

Arthur was finally brought into a waiting room, where Feliciano ran to a desk and dialled a single number into the phone.

"Ciao, guess who's here! I told you that I'd bring him on time, you have no faith in me…" Feliciano smiled as he tickled his chin with his soft fingers, as though he was speaking to an old friend like an exited teenage girl. "Yes, yes, you have faith in my food, but not in my organisation: you're so cruel… Yes, I'll bring him in." Suddenly, Feliciano frowned, "he's not there? Fine, I'll bring our guest in and go and track down that goofball." Feliciano chuckled, "but he is a goofball, he laughs when I call him that to his face! So I am allowed!"

Arthur watched as Feliciano hung up the phone, before looking to the Brit and smiled, "apologies, now, come with me."  
Arthur followed Feliciano through a door and into a large boardroom, where one man sat at the large table, sitting before a laptop that was connected to a projector. The blonde man smiled at Arthur at his arrival, he stood to shake Arthur's hand. Arthur was amazed by how tall and well-built the agent was.

"Arthur Kirkland, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," the man began as he firmly gripped Arthur's hand.

"Likewise," Arthur replied.

"I am Ludwig Beilschmidt. You work with my brother, Gilbert," Ludwig pointed out with a wide smile. "I used to work for MI6 for years until coming here."

"Gilbert? Ah yes, he did speak a lot about having a little brother, it's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so many stories," Arthur explained, "that's how you guys got me to come here, he organised this; didn't he?"

"We did have his help," Ludwig pointed out as he gestured towards a seat, encouraging Arthur to sit. "Now, I was going to have his partner explain the process of Matthew's kidnapping, however, he is running late this morning."

"Ah," Arthur sighed, "the goofball."

"Indeed, the goofball," Ludwig sighed, "This isn't his usual behaviour. However, Matthew's kidnapping did hit him hard."

"I see…" Arthur muttered as he took his seat across from Ludwig, somewhat understanding how the agent was feeling. As he understood how it felt to question what everything was worth after the loss of someone important.

Suddenly the door opened and a new person walked in, oceanic blue eyes stared at Arthur from behind rectangular frames, he ran his free hand through his dirty blonde hair as he took a seat next to Arthur. "I'm sorry for being late, I got no sleep and traffic was shit, I—"

"Alfred, please meet your temporary partner while we search for Matthew. This is Arthur Kirkland, he's known in the UK as Agent King, he is our best shot at finding Matthew," Ludwig explained. Alfred's eyes shot upward to meet Arthurs, his eyes widened with hope.

"Agent King… I've heard so much about you, thank god you're here," Alfred gasped as he took Arthur's hand and shook it meaningfully.

"No problem," Arthur muttered, lost in the Americans wide smile, amazed that he could pull off a convincing smile despite the obvious tiredness and misery he hid in his eyes.

Ludwig opened his laptop and turned on the projector, revealing a picture of a young man with icy blue eyes behind oval frames and his hair was a light blonde and looked incredibly soft and light, with ends that bracketed his face and covered his ears, he stared at the camera with a formal glare as though he was posing for an official photo. "Now, Arthur, I don't know how much Agent Vagaras has told you, but this is Matthew. He went missing from a warehouse whilst he and Agent Jones, Alfred, were—"

"LUDWIG!" Feliciano cried as he burst into the boardroom, startling everyone, in his hand the Italian carried a small red memory stick. The Italian was breathing heavily, as though he had just finished a run, and had a panicked look in his wide hazel eyes. "This came in the mail! It could be…"

Everyone watched intensely as Ludwig put in the memory stick and opened the file. Arthur and Alfred watched everything that happened on Ludwig's laptop being projected onto the wall in front of the long table. The file opened to reveal only one item, a video icon.

"It's a video," Alfred gasped, daunting what was to come. Ludwig clicked on the icon to open the video.

The video was dark, and shaky, as though the camera was being adjusted onto the tripod, until it finally focussed onto a face. Deep violet and narrow eyes stared into the camera, sending a shiver down Arthur's spine. The man stepped back, as though inspecting the camera, revealing himself to be a tall figure with pale skin and pale blonde hair.

"It's him…" Alfred gasped as his head fell into his hands.

Arthur began to focus what else was in the frame, the room was small and dirty, the ground was damn and covered in dirt and the walls were covered in a layer of mould. Ivan stood before one single light, however, he was standing in the view of something else.

"When you receive this in the mail, we will have moved locations," Ivan began as he placed his hands behind his back, revealing a thick Russian accent. "If Agent Jones was successful, you will know that it was me who took Agent Williams."  
Arthur looked at Alfred, to see the American grimace, staring at his hands and tightening his shoulders, as though the Russians words stung.  
"Now, I know that you will all be hunting us down like packs of wolves… I know what you can do, and I am about to find out so much more. Now, onto what we are all waiting for…" Ivan stepped to the side to reveal a figure sitting in a seat, the small light highlighting his light blonde hair as he crouched forward. Ivan grabbed the figures hair and yanked him upwards, "don't be shy now!"  
The figure gasped in pain as everyone watching recoiled in shock at the sight of his beaten face and bleeding lip, Arthur could barely recognise Matthew from the photo he was shown just minutes earlier.  
"Now then," Ivan said as he pressed his head against Matthew's forcing the young man to look into the camera. "I'm not going to kill him, no, no… I'm going to use him, and _then_ kill him. You can prevent this. Before you assume anything: no, I do not want money. I want access, I want power and influence over you. I want access to your weaponry and coding, to have what you have. American cannot become selfish and selective with its powers, and expect the rest of the world to wait in line for approval…" Ivan explained, his hand running across Matthew's chin. "But I guess; I'm going to get it either way. I know what Agent Stealth is capable of, and we're going to complete great things together."

Ivan roughly let the Canadian go, letting his fall forward, however, his hands and arms remained tied to the chair. Matthew's head fell forward as he breathed heavily, whilst Ivan walked around him, mumbling incoherently and shaking his hands violently, only worrying the viewers further.

 _"DON'T DO A THING HE SAYS!"_ Matthew burst, shaking within his restraints. _"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! DON'T GIVE HIM ANYTHING! HE'S GOT—"_

Matthew was interrupted when Ivan swung a heavy pipe towards his head, splashing the Canadians blood over the wall. Everyone gasped in horror as Matthew screamed in pain, twitching with agitation, Ivan walked towards the camera before shutting it off without another word.

"My god…" Feliciano gasped, revealing his tears.

"We can't leave him there for much longer, considering now we know what we're up against," Ludwig explained, "we'll probably receive another update from them soon… we need to find Matthew before that happens."

"How did he get kidnapped in the first place?" Arthur asked, overwhelmed with the shock.

Alfred finally raised his head to look at Arthur; his eyes were darkened with anger and regret, as though he was about to emotionally break.  
"When you use his best friend as a hostage…"


	3. Chapter 3

Matthew was always the quieter one, he would watch and observe the situation, assessing on the best course of action. Almost the perfect match for his partner agent: Alfred was loud and confident, the proud agent who loved his job and the power that came with it, he was the one who asked questions and took the steps forward. He was the ying to Matthews's yang, the Watson to Matthew's Sherlock and the Kuzco to Matthew's Pacha.

Matthew was always at work first, the first thing Alfred would see when he walked into the office was Matthew sitting at his desk, either with a cup of coffee or on the phone, speaking to either Ludwig and Feliciano; probably explaining to them that Alfred had finally arrived.

Alfred strode into the office, handing Matthew a cup of Starbucks coffee, making sure it was his favourite, a small apology for being late that morning.

"Condolences," Alfred announced.

Matthew closed his eyes as he took a sip of the warm coffee, before looking at his American friends with a mischievous glare, "not forgiven."

"Well, you will in a minute," Alfred began as he took a piece of paper out of his brown leather messenger bag, "I've been looking at booking logs for local motels…"

"Alfred, we were told to not focus on the Braginski case," Matthew pointed out.

"I know, but come on, this is really good!" Alfred announced before he grabbed Matthew by the shoulders, "this could be our big break; Ludwig can finally take us seriously and give us REAL big cases! We will be acknowledged as Agent Hero, and Agent Stealth!"

"Alfred…" Matthew muttered.

"At least hear what I've got…" Alfred muttered as he showed Alfred the paper, "now, if I were a major criminal who is hell-bent on destruction of the United States, I would want to hide somewhere the cops won't look, and where people won't ask too many questions. So, I was looking through the logging lists of some small hotels around the area, particularly near _warehouses._ "

"Oh god…" Matthew sighed, dreading what terrible idea Alfred was going to propose next.

"Don't judge me!" Alfred snapped, as he ran his finger down the list of names on the list, before pointing at the one name he had highlighted in pink. _"Avian Sinkbrig."_

"And?"

Alfred slammed the paper onto the desk as he spread his arms for dramatic effect, "It's an anagram! For IVAN BRAGINSKI!"

"Alfred…" Matthew muttered, unsure about how to feel about Alfred's theory, sure; the anagram theory matches, however: there could be some unfortunate person whose name happens to be an anagram of a master criminal! It's not enough to perform an investigation. "It's not enough."

"BUT WAIT!" Alfred pointed out, before shoving his hand back into his messenger bag, before taking out another piece of paper, before shoving it into Matthew's face, "THERE'S MORE!"

"Huh…?" Matthew muttered as he took the piece of paper out of Alfred's hands, seeing that it was a large printed out copy of a screenshot of fuzzy security footage.  
The camera itself was shabby, probably extremely cheap as the footage was blurry and in black and white. The picture was of a man writing into the logbook of a hotel, looking at the man who stood behind the desk, as though in the midst of conversation. However, there was something about the guest that sank Matthew's attitude towards Alfred's theories.  
"NO."

"FUCK YEAH!"

"NO WAY!" Matthew gasped in utter disbelief as he rushed to his laptop, quickly making his way to the 'Most wanted' list, before clicking on the profile of the Number 3 most wanted in the United States: Ivan Braginski. "This can't be real."  
Matthew placed the picture next to the reference picture of Ivan Braginski, mentally comparing the two pictures, same build, same face, same nose, same hair...

"BOW DOWN, BITCHES!" Alfred announced proudly, uncaring to the confused stares of the other agents.

"I can't deny it…" Matthew muttered with his mouth over his hand as he put down the picture, "Ivan Braginski is in Washington DC… this is bad, this is really bad. His last sighting was in California, what the hell is he doing here?"

"We can find out…" Alfred muttered as he leant into Matthew, with a diabolical glare in his bright eyes.

"NO!" Matthew gasped as he wheeled himself away from Alfred, terrified by his suggestion. "Are you insane!? We can't do that alone! We should tell Ludwig."

"Then send him an email!" Alfred groaned, as he rolled his eyes, tired of precautions and procedures, "I'm not gonna have Braginski in handcuffs, I'm not that stupid! We should just visit the hotel and scope the area around it for anything suspicious. Because, if we give this to someone else, it will only go through insane processes and approvals, it'll be a week before someone checks it out, and the clerk will have forgotten about it by then! Come on, dude, this could be our big break!"

"I don't know…" Matthew sighed; however, he knew that Alfred was going to do it with or without Matthew, so at least Matthew could be there to help him: even if his lead does produce nothing, at least Matthew would be there for him. That's what any best friend would do.

Matthew made sure that backup was available before they left, and double checked that he and Alfred had their guns. Alfred drove them to the location of the hotel, and it was decided that Matthew would interview the clerk, whilst Alfred would look around the area.

Alfred enjoyed the idea of scoping out areas; he enjoyed the thrill of suddenly turning a corner, even if he found nothing.  
One thing he found interesting, was that the hotel was down the road from a wood chipping and paper making company, whose warehouses lined down the street. The lack of security was an alarming for Alfred, what sort of company of this scale would not invest in some form of security? However, what unsettled Alfred the most was the feeling that he was being watched…

"Matt?" Alfred asked as he suddenly turned around, only to see the same walls between two warehouses. Alfred closed his eyes and sighed, "Don't be afraid…"

Alfred continued his journey, walking circles around one warehouse, before moving onto the next, all with minimal results, right when Alfred thought about turning around and returning to the hotel to meet Matthew early, he heard… talking?

Alfred pressed his back against the concrete wall of the warehouse and focussed on the shadows that formed from the sunlight that shone on the other wall. He could see a shape… it was tall, but he couldn't make out what it was.

As he got closer, he could hear the voice more clearly, the person was speaking as though he was on the phone, however, it was in a completely different language. Alfred frowned as he pondered over how rough the language sounded, it was course and the vowels were strong, and he immediately recognised it as Russian-like.  
Alfred was not fluent in a lot of languages, he was better at Spanish than anything else…

He released his gun from its holder, pondering about what action he could take…. He was tempted to run, however, the Agent hero called within him and begged for action. The call for action became too strong for the confident American to handle and he stepped out of the shadows with his gun in his hands.

"FBI!" He snapped as he turned the corner and faced the source of the voices, however… he froze. "What the fuck?" He asked as he slumped his shoulders forward in disappointment at the sight of a mannequin, with an old fashioned tape-recorder taped to its chest. _"Come on… Seriously?"_

However, his disappointment was short-lived, as he felt someone grab him from behind. The shock forced him to drop his gun and grab the arm that hooked around his neck. Before Alfred could cry out, he felt his attacker press a cloth over his mouth and nose; forcing the American to breathe in a strong but sweet smelling substance, that made the American's head pump in pain and adrenaline. Alfred jumped back and kicked around, desperate to break out of his attackers grip, Alfred tried to elbow his attacker; however, his arms quickly became weak. Alfred struggled to stay awake against the power of the chemicals he breathed in. Alfred delivered one more powerful blow to his attacker's chest with his elbow, and was successful in forcing his attacker to release him. However, Alfred feel to the ground in his weakened state, battling with unconsciousness; Alfred crawled forward in a desperate attempt to get away, however, Alfred watched with terror as his attacker simply stepped over him, before grabbing Alfred by the hair and forcing him to look up at him, before placing the cloth back over Alfred's mouth and nose.  
Alfred's eyes opened with horror and shock when he looked into the icy-eyes of his attacker, it was him… the man that Alfred had spent so much time dreaming about hunting. Ivan Braginski. Ivan smiled at Alfred when he realised that the American agent had made the connection.  
 _No… No…_ Alfred thought as his entire body became numb, and he struggled to keep his eyes open, and he could not focus on imagining the horror that he was going to face.

"Foolish child…" Ivan sighed, until Alfred finally succumbed to the darkness.

Alfred felt as though he was floating, the numbness had completely consumed his body; he did not even know how long he had been like this… he could be told that it had been forever, and he would believe it…

However, he finally regained the ability to open his eyes, and was blinded by a golden light… and… a voice.  
Alfred began to regain his consciousness quickly, and then he realised that he couldn't move, he felt a cold and heavy force weigh down his entire body. Alfred opened his eyes completely and looked around, he was inside on of the warehouses, and a man stood nearby to where Alfred was tied down.

"Yes, we are in warehouse number 3. He is here. Are you deaf? I said, warehouse number THREE. Did you get that? Yes… Yes… Yes…" the man explained, keeping his back to the American, this man wasn't Ivan… However, that didn't concern Alfred, if anything: he didn't want to know where Ivan was.  
Alfred smiled, knowing that he had his location, looking to his other side; Alfred saw that there was a small table that sat within an arm's reach of Alfred, and on that table, sat his mobile phone. Alfred could almost hiss with joy, this was perfect, as soon as he could; he could text Matthew and get help!  
Alfred finally focussed on what was tying him down; he lifted his head to inspect his body, to see chains wrapped over his chest, his stomach, his waist and down his legs. However… what frightened Alfred the most, was that he was tied to a conveyer belt, and a very dangerous looking saw blade sat at the end, at a distance of a couple of feet away from the base of his feet.  
"Building three. Alright, see you out the front. No, he's still asleep, he will be for a little while." The man continued to talk as he walked away from where Alfred laid, not even looking back to check on him.  
As soon as the large entrance doors to the workshop closed, Alfred went to work, he struggled against the tightness of the chains, but eventually pulled his arm out of its strong grip. Alfred reached for his phone and took it. As he expected, he had over ten missed calls from Matthew, a couple from Ludwig and Feliciano, heck, even his mom had called him. Alfred unlocked his phone and quickly called Matthew, and pressed his phone to his ear and waited for Matthew to answer.

"ALFRED!" Matthew cried after the second ring, "Where the fuck are you?!"

"There are warehouses down the road from the hotel, I'm in Number three! Please, you need to hurry! Be careful, Ivan got me!"

"IVAN!"

"He fucking chloroformed me! You've gotta come quick, while I'm alone!" Alfred explained, "please, fucking hurry!"

"God, Alfred, you're such an idiot! I'm on my way!" Matthew sighed, "I'm close!"

"Thank god, be careful—"

Suddenly, someone came out from under the conveyer belt and snatched away Alfred's phone, Alfred gasped with fear as the figure smiled down at him, Alfred immediately recognised the man as his attacker from earlier; Ivan Braginski.

"Just a reminder, Matthew…" Ivan announced into the phone, "He is in warehouse number 3. And if you don't come alone or within five minutes from now: he will die before you even get through the front door. Do you hear me?" Ivan was quiet for a second, before he held the phone close to Alfred's face, before the Russian suddenly slammed his elbow into Alfred's stomach, making the American cry out in pain. _"DO YOU HEAR ME!?"_

 _"Y-yes!"_ Alfred heard Matthew cry through the phone.

Ivan hung up the phone call, before throwing the phone away, where it smashed against a pile of cut planks of wood, a tell-tale sign of the woodcutting work that takes place in the workshop.

"YOU MOTHER—"Alfred hissed, however, he was interrupted when Ivan grabbed the American's free arm, and began to force it back into the chains. Alfred fought back by attempting to wave his arm, struggling against the Russians grip.

"We can't have you grabbing at anything else," Ivan pointed out as Ivan's strength overpowered Alfred, and forced his arm back into the chains, before gripping the chains that held his arms down, and tightening its grip. "God, you are perfect."

"What?" Alfred asked.

"You did everything right. You solved my anagram, you found the footage from the hotel and you found my tape-recorder! You were made to be my hostage!" Ivan pointed out as he pulled out a large control pad out from under the conveyer belt, of which had only two buttons, a red one, and a green one. This left Alfred with no questions about what it was for. "It's such a shame that I'll have to kill you if Matthew says no."

"What do you want with Matt?!" Alfred hissed, attempting to fight against his tightened chains.

Ivan stared down at Alfred, with an amused yet terrifying smile, "you have no idea who he really is? Don't you?"

"What?" Alfred asked.

The doors to the warehouse opened and Matthew walked in, with the same man from earlier following from behind, Matthew had his gun in his hand, ready to fight.

"I'M HERE!" Matthew cried, his eyes and his voice were seething with anger. "WHAT DO YOU WANT, BRAGINSKI?!"

"Matthew!" Ivan cried as he opened his arms, as though he was speaking to an old friend, "you were a tiny little boy when I last saw you! You're so big now! And you've done so much! 'The Canadian Terror' what a title you have earned yourself!"

"That's not who I am!" Matthew hissed.

"True, I can make you so much _more!"_ Ivan pointed out, before he pressed the green button on his control pad. "Whether you want it or not…"

"HEY!" Alfred gasped as he felt the conveyer belt start to grumble into action, before he felt himself begin to move forwards. His heart sank when he heard the terrifying buzz of the saw roll before him. "NO! NO! MATT—"  
Alfred was silenced when Ivan removed his black leather glove, and shoved it into the American's mouth.

"What do you want with me?" Matthew asked, watching with horror as Alfred began to drift towards the raging saw. "I have nothing to offer you!"

"LIAR! You are a criminal!"

"REFORMED!"

"REFORMATION DOES NOT HINDER KNOWLEDGE!" Ivan cried, "You still know how to send out a virus that can hinder the CIA and you can still build a bomb big enough to destroy this entire group of warehouses! You are still that teenager whom the CIA spent a year hunting down!"

Matthew lifted his gun at the Russian, "I'm doing nothing for you, let him go NOW!"

"Really?" Ivan asked as he pointed to how close the soles of Alfred's shoes were getting to the raging saw, "do you really want to play that game with me? You know who I am… I will have you no matter what, it's your choice whether your friend lives, or dies…"

All Matthew could hear was the terrified muffled screams of Alfred. Matthew shook with fear as he struggled to hold up his gun, and this only worsened when Ivan pulled his glove out of Alfred's hand, letting the American scream in overwhelming fear without restriction.  
It only became worse when Alfred could feel the blades of the saw break through his shoes. Alfred could only scream and cry as he shook within his chains, desperate to break free, the complete opposite of a hero.

"JUST STOP IT!" Matthew screamed as he turned around and threw his gun away, before collapsing to his knees and crying in his hands, "I'LL DO WHAT YOU WANT, JUST STOP!"

Ivan pressed the red button, ending the terror of the saw, and Alfred's journey. Despite this, Alfred kept screaming, feeling blood from the bottom of his foot spread around his heel.

Ivan walked around the conveyer belt, as Matthew continued to cry into his hands, loathing his situation, Ivan supportively placed his hand on Matthew's shoulder, before encouraging the Canadian to stand. "Come. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"But, Alfred…" Matthew whimpered, using his sleeve to wipe his tears.

Ivan looked back at Alfred, before revealing a dark smile that sent shivers down Alfred's spine, "workers should return to the warehouse at six am tomorrow, do you think you can last that long? Hm?"

Ivan didn't wait for a response, but instead removed his tanned coat and placed it over Matthew's trembling shoulders, before encouraging the Canadian to walk between him, and his henchman, and turning off the lights when they left. Leaving Alfred alone in the darkness to contemplate all that he thought he knew about his best friend…


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur couldn't find the words to comfort the American, as his aura continued to deteriorate, Arthur could only imagine the bubbly and charismatic personality the American agent had before Matthew's kidnapping.

"He used my stupidity and nativity against me, and Matt's in danger because of it," Alfred mumbled. "It's my fault that he's getting hurt now…"

"Braginski was determined to get Matthew: it seems like he was going to do anything it took. You happened to be closest to Matthew: that's not your fault…" Feliciano pointed out as he placed his hands on Alfred's shoulders, showing whatever support he can. "We're going to find him."

"Then, let's get started," Ludwig pointed out as he rewind the video, and stopped at the shot of Ivan standing before Matthew, leaning into the Canadian and holding his head upwards to face the camera, displaying the agent like how a hunter would display their latest kill. Matthew was in a position where he was leaning forward, his mouth wide open as his eyes were with terror, the sight of it shook Arthur to the core. "It's obvious that this place is abandoned, and damp; judging by the mould and soil on the ground and walls."

Arthur stood up and walked towards the image that was projected onto the wall, pointing to the light shining against the floor and walls. "Judging by the size of the lightbulb … Incandescent, I believe. And how the light's shine is reaching the wall as well, this room has to be very small in width. Suggesting that this would be perhaps a storage room of some sorts."

"Ludwig…" Alfred grimaced, "play it again."

"Are you sure you want to be here for that?" Ludwig asked.

"I'm an adult, I can manage." Alfred grunted, "Besides, we should listen for any noises that give away where they are."

"He's right, I heard something as Ivan was talking," Arthur agreed.

 _"_ _I'm not going to kill him, no, no … I'm going to use him, and then kill him. You can prevent this—"_

Instead of focussing on what Ivan was saying, everyone was listening past the Russian's voice and to what was going on in the background.  
What suddenly became noticeable, was a deep grumble that lightly rumbled through the room.

"The lightbulb shakes," Arthur pointed out, reaching up and pointing towards the lightbulb, as it lightly shook. "Even the camera loses a little focus here."

"We were too distracted by Ivan's threats to notice the first time," Ludwig agreed.

"Sounds like a train," Alfred pointed out.

Ludwig and Arthur's eyebrows rose at the conclusion, silently listening to the grumble behind the Russian's voice.

Until they jumped with fright when their train of thought was cut off by Matthew's cries, _"DON'T DO A THING HE SAYS! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! DON'T GIVE HIM ANYTHING! HE'S GOT—"_  
Alfred looked away to avoid the sight of Matthew getting smacked in the head by the Russian's pipe, the noise alone made Alfred tremble with anxiety: further cementing the American's idea that this situation was his fault.

"It sounds like a train, perhaps he's near a train station…" Ludwig pointed out.

"What if he's _in_ a train station?" Arthur asked, "The noise is coming from right behind the camera, closer than most places would be to a train. A subway. A room next to the tracks, those are always abandoned. We have ones like that in London, where workers used to go when working on the tracks... Do they have the same thing here?"

Ludwig looked at Feliciano whom still stood behind Alfred, showing whatever silent support he could give. "Find that out."

"Rodger!" Feliciano saluted, before running out of the office.

"If he is in the subway, there should be footage of them going in and out," Ludwig pointed out.

"Though, at the beginning of the video, he points out that they will have moved by the time that we receive the video. How do we know that this wasn't filmed the day after he was taken?" Arthur asked.

"We could see if there are any signs of where they're headed next, if they'd leave something behind."

"It's Matthew, he'd know what's going on and he'd leave a clue," Alfred pointed out, "he wouldn't leave that place without offering some kind of clue, I know it."

"Then it is worth a shot, if this agent is who you say he is," Arthur explained as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I will also need to know about the man who kidnapped him, what his history is, so I can predict what he'd do next."

"Feliciano is right outside," Ludwig replied, "He will show you the file we have built on Braginski."

"Right!" Arthur replied as he marched out of the boardroom, leaving Alfred alone with Ludwig, both men sitting on opposite sides of the desk.

"How are you feeling?" Ludwig asked.

"Terrible. I let Matt get kidnapped, and then I realise that I don't know who he is at all," Alfred grumbled, "what is the 'Canadian Terror'?"

Ludwig sighed, "He wanted to tell you, but I ordered him not too. He had changed his name and started a new life. As you learned, Matthew first started out with us in the reformation program, before moving onto the training academy; where you both met."

"But what did he do to get to the reformation program?"

"He threatened National security; he attacked the CIA by releasing a virus that shut down our system and blocked access to our files," Ludwig explained, "he issued bomb threats as well, threatening to attack the Whitehouse and the CIA building. He used to have the same ideologies as Ivan."

"Do you know if they really used to know each other?" Alfred asked, shocked by what he was hearing, as he had spent the months since Matthew's kidnapping too scared and uncomfortable to ask why…

"We don't know," Ludwig answered, "There is a chance that they met, considering Matthew's family. When Matthew began to threaten us, eventually we tracked down the source of the attack in Canada, so we went up there with the permission of the Canadian government to arrest him. However, when we found him, we realised that he was just a teenager… I couldn't go through with punishing him after his arrest, so I convinced the board to enrol him into the reform program. It was good, because he became the perfect example of how it works."

"Matthew Williams is not his real name, is it?" Alfred asked.

"No, it's not," Ludwig answered.

"Can I know?"

"That's classified." Ludwig sighed, "However, it's close to his original name, so he was happy with it."

"I was right!" Arthur announced as he walked back into the office, "the subways do have special rooms! Feliciano is contacting the subway company to ask for permission to look for it."

"Excellent," Ludwig replied, as Arthur placed a large folder on the desk as he took his seat beside Alfred again.

"And this, is Braginski's file," Arthur pointed out, "I'll spend my night researching him, and build a prediction on where he may take Matthew next."

"A good reference would be his past kidnappings. He was a serial kidnapper in Russia, before moving to America," Ludwig explained.

"Are those in here?" Arthur asked.

"They should be," Ludwig replied.

Within a couple of hours, Feliciano had established contact with the managers of the subway section, and convinced them to let three agents explore the underground system and inspect every abandoned storeroom.  
The first showed little promise, looking completely different to the one in the video. Alfred and Arthur were accompanied by another agent, named Antonio, whose job was to collect evidence of Ivan and Matthews's presence.

After Antonio dusted the doorhandle for fingerprints, the Spaniard unlocked the door to another storeroom, he opened the door to let Alfred and Arthur in. However, Alfred barely made it into the room before freezing with shock at the sight of a gruesome blood splatter along the wall, next to where a simple wooden chair sat under a weak light.

"We found it…" Arthur grimaced, as he took the American's hand and urged him into the room, giving Antonio the space to enter.

"Oh my god…" Alfred shuddered, feeling his hands tremble.

"If what you said is true, then Matthew has left a clue," Arthur explained as he grabbed Alfred by the shoulders, forcing him to look into him. "We're going to find him."  
Arthur let Alfred go, watching his shoulders fall in disappointment. Arthur handed Alfred his camera.  
"Take a photo of me in the chair, we're going to have to compare."  
Alfred watched as Arthur sat in the same chair as Matthew did, Alfred could picture Ivan grabbing Arthur by his blonde hair, before smacking him in the face with a pipe.  
Arthur put his hands behind his back, similar to how Matthew did, and felt the back of the stone wall scrape against the back of his fingers.

"You said that you saw him get hit on the head with a pipe…?" Antonio asked as he bent down to pick at the blood on the walls with a cotton-bud.

"Yes," Arthur replied, after the flash of the camera ended.

"There's too much blood for that over here…" Antonio grimaced, "something else happened…"

This observation sent a shiver down Alfred's spine and he felt as though he was about to feel sick.

"Alfred," Arthur muttered as he brought his hands out from behind his back, however, before he could continue to ask the American if he needed some air, Arthur noticed a white substance on the tips of his fingers. "Hang on a tic…"

Arthur stood up before turning around to face the chair, and shoving it away from the wall, revealing a white inscription that contrasted against the dark mildew of the wall.

 _"_ _Matt…"_ Alfred gasped as he took a photo of the inscription, finally a sign that could dissolve his anxiety.  
To his relief, Alfred was right; Matthew wouldn't leave without leaving something behind for Alfred to find. Matthew was still thinking, despite the horrors that he was living through.

And it was in the form of four letters: …

 _M.A.H.S_ ….

"Mahs?" Antonio frowned.

"A code, each letter means something," Arthur frowned. "Matthew wants us to find him, and we can find him in whatever this means."

Alfred couldn't contain his smile, as he took another photo of the inscription, "we're coming, Matt…"


	5. Chapter 5

A cold splash of water forced Matthew out of his sleep, shocking him into consciousness. The Canadian reached for his glasses as he wiped the water off of his eyes with his wet sleeve. Matthew tried to move off of his chair; however, his right wrist remained handcuffed to the wooden arm. His neck and shoulders ached from the pain of remaining in a painful position for a long amount of time.

"Rise and shine…" A familiar voice cooed as Matthew adjusted his glasses, and stared at his kidnapper through the large crack in his oval lens. "We have a busy day ahead of us. Much, much work!" The Russian stood before Matthew's chair, with one hand holding an empty blue bucket and another holding a lit cigarette.

Matthew huffed staring at the Russian through his dirty fringe with piercing eyes, "I'm not doing anything."

Ivan clenched his fist and frowned with frustration, exhaling a cloud of smoke, "Do you still wish to play games? Very well, we will play games. Nothing is better at getting someone up in the morning than a bit of exercise."

Before Matthew could reply, he was pulled out of his seat and dragged away, with the chair following them, as it was still handcuffed to Matthew's wrist. Matthew struggled, weakly trying to pull away; however, his condition was so degraded: he could barely stand by himself. His entire body ached from the months of hell, uncomfortable positons, sleep deprivation, starvation, and beatings: Ivan had used every method in the book to 'convince' Matthew to do what he wants.

As Matthew felt Ivan's boot in his back that forced him to the carpet, Matthew prayed that his agent friends had found the room in the subway, and the message he left behind. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Matthew cried, until his felt the burn of Ivan's cigarette on the back of his neck, making his cry out in pain.

"Then, get to work!" Ivan pointed out, grabbing Matthew's head and turning it to its side, not only cracking it loudly, but directing Matthew to look at the impressive computer set-up the Russian had created. Matthew gasped as Ivan used his hands to continue to hold Matthew's head and his boot was pressed into his back, bending Matthew into a painful position. "Simple: you do well and you get the carrot, if you don't; you get the stick, do you understand me now, or do I need to keep explaining?"

"AGH!" Matthew cried as Ivan released his hold, letting the Canadians face fall to the floor.  
Matthew closed his eyes and groaned as the pain pulsed through his neck and back, temporarily paralysing him. Matthew felt Ivan unlocking his wrist from the handcuffs, and taking away the chair, before setting it down near Matthew, where Ivan sat and watched as Matthew struggled to his hands and knees. When Matthew looked at Ivan, he saw the Russian smile before looking at a fictional watch on his wrist.

"Go on, take your time, your friends will have no idea where you are for at least another month from now," Ivan chuckled as he crossed his legs.

Matthew knew that his treatment was going to get worse if he didn't act… Ivan knew what Matthew was capable of, so there was no way he could trick the Russian with false progress. Matthew knew what Ivan wanted him to do; it was the same act that earned him his name which was: destroying the CIA.  
Matthew could still remember the day he achieved that goal…

His hatred of the CIA began when he became convinced that the CIA had taken his father away, thus leaving his mother alone to die, and then in the end: leaving Matthew all alone… Seething with anger, Matthew dedicated years to his task and created a system that was able to trick his computer into thinking it belonged to a CIA agent, opening up a whole new world of systems and files for the teenager. One by one, he shut down every department that belonged to the CIA, and for fun, he replaced the login screen with one of his own: creating a complicated password, thus preventing the CIA from getting in and fixing the hack.

He spent months updating this system, and watching the news and giggling at the effects of his work. However, as everyone acted normally, Matthew felt as though he needed to turn it up a notch…  
With more research, as well as the help of former friends of his father, Matthew collected the tools needed to create a dangerous bomb… He wasn't very good at it, in all of his field-tests; he could barely make something strong enough to blow up a car.

Matthew's sense of superiority had gotten the better of him, he became cocky and reckless, and he updated his system of terror again; incredibly drunk on power and beer, but made a very crucial mistake… And to his horror: he only realised it when he heard a knock on the door, and when he peaked out from his attic hide-out, his entire front yard was swarming with police and a SWAT team…

Matthew recoiled back into his attic, his hands shaking with shock, he cursed as he threw his laptop into its bag before snatching his wallet, and he scrambled around his room to grab whatever he could fit into his bag. Matthew ran down from his attic as the knock on his door intensified, unsure if he'd make it downstairs before they decided to knock the door down. Consumed with panic, the Canadian opened the window to his backyard, reaching for a large tree that sat before the window. Matthew hissed in pain as he slid down the tree trunk, feeling the rough bark scratch his hands, eventually the pain became too much and he let go, landing flat on the pavement in his backyard.

"HE'S OUT THE BACK!" A voice announced as he heard his front door crash open, as well as the gate to his backyard.

Matthew did the only thing he could do, run. He ran across his garden before jumping over the fence and into the street behind his house.

"AGENT JAGER!" A voice cried, as Matthew ran down the street, looking behind him to see a figure dressed in black, with pulled back blonde hair flawlessly jump over the fence, before focussing his sight on Matthew, engaging in chance.

Matthew internally cursed as he jumped over fences and dodged innocent pedestrians, desperate to escape from the persistent agent.

Matthew knew that there was no way in hell he could outrun the agent; his best option was to hide. However, chances for that option became slimmer and slimmer, as he could literally hear the agent's boots slam the concrete as he ran behind him.

Matthew turned the corner into an alleyway, desperate to create some distance between himself and the agent; however the agent grabbed Matthew by his laptop bag, pulling Matthew back. Desperate to get away, Matthew turned back and punched the agent in the face, finally getting a good look into his terrifyingly angry blue eyes. Despite how hard he punched, the agent fought back, kneeing Matthew in the stomach before throwing him to the wall. Matthew tried to run again, but the pain in his abdomen and head forced him to the dirty ground.

Matthew cried loudly as he felt his hands being trapped into handcuffs.

"What is your name?!" The agent asked, revealing a thick German accent.

Reaching his French-Canadian roots: Matthew swore, _"vas te faire foutre!"_

"I know you speak English!" The agent growled, before grabbing Matthew by the shoulders, forcing him on his knees and facing the German's face.  
The Germans expression quickly changed when he got a good look at Matthew's face… he froze and stared at Matthew's youthful features, somewhat shocked.  
"You look just like…" The agent gasped, before looking into Matthew's eyes, seeing the terror that the young Canadian was feeling, "How old are you?"

"S-sixteen…" Matthew whimpered as he heard more officers enter the alleyway.

"Stand down!" The Agent commanded, gesturing to the other officers.

"You're just a child…" The agent muttered to himself as he helped Matthew to his feet.

Matthew was not prepared to deal with prison and as far as he knew; his life was over, he was doomed, and it was only going to get worse when they find the bomb materials in his house… He'll be accused of terrorism too: great!

As soon as the door to the holding cell opened, Matthew looked up, expecting it to be police officers, ready to take him away. However… it was that same agent from before: the blonde one, and with him was a shorter brunette man. They sat on the table, sitting across from Matthew, and introduced themselves as Feliciano and Ludwig.

He wasn't expecting kindness, or the option of redemption… Ludwig and Feliciano gave him an offer he couldn't refuse: if he spent a couple of years in a reformation program and proved to be reformed, he could put his abilities to good use. They were all shocked that someone so young had managed to do such incredible things, and he would be an asset to the CIA, he could save people…  
Determined to use this chance, he accepted.

Within three years, Matthew changed from a young criminal to a soft young man, determined to make a change and do good for once.

Eventually he was assessed and completed his reformation program and was astonished to see that Ludwig and Feliciano were waiting for him to finished, and within a week; they had convinced him to join the police training academy, setting him up to work for the CIA one day.  
Matthew had begun to see those two agents as surrogate parents, they had him over for dinner, and spoke to him about his training as well as how he was in general and it was the closest that Matthew had to a family for a long time…

Eventually he picked up the pace at the training academy, focussing intensely at his studies and training, which was when he met Alfred. He watched the young man work on his impressive physique.  
Instantly, the brains and the brawn of the class became best friends, determined to make it to that CIA together.

Alfred was the first friend that Matthew had ever had and the best thing for him was that Alfred had no idea who he was: he had become friends with Matthew, not the criminal… he had made a real friend, and was determined to keep him, no matter what.  
So the sight of his best friend tied up on a conveyer-belt, his eyes filled with terror… Matthew felt as though he was about to lose everything he had been working towards…

Matthew returned to reality as he fell into his chair, overcome by his hunger and exhaustion, he had done little work: he was sure that he'd receive another beating for this pathetic amount of work, however: anything is worth slowing down the progress of Ivan's plans.

He hung his head in exhaustion as the door to his prison / workplace opened and Ivan entered, however, he wasn't alone. Matthew was too exhausted to listen to what they were talking about, all he could hear was mumbles, until they turned into yells.

"I told you not to hurt him!" the new voice said.  
Matthew's eyes shot wide open at the voice, suddenly recognising it. Matthew froze as he felt his heart race into shock as his muscles tensed.  
"How dare you hurt him!"

"He wasn't doing what he was told!" Ivan explained, "He was defiant and I'm sure he was planning an escape!"

"So what?! I told you not to hurt him!" the man explained. "You are so lucky I do not have my gun on me right now!"

"You wouldn't shoot me… we have an agreement…" Ivan hissed.

"How dare you hurt him… You owe us now…" The man said as Matthew noticed a shadow cast over him, Matthew felt a soft hand hold his chin, lifting his head to look at him.  
Matthew's eyes widened with shock when he saw those soft and caring eyes staring at him… Matthew hadn't seen those eyes since he was young, and yet they still had that same loving glare…

"Calm down, he's not that hurt," Ivan huffed, "Nothing is broken."

Regardless, the eye contact between Matthew and the man did not end… The man smiled at Matthew as though he was the most precious thing he had ever seen, the hand softly caressed up Matthews's cheek, before pushing his hair out of the Canadians face…

"It's ok my dear, Mathieu… Papa's here…"


	6. Chapter 6

Before he knew it, Arthur had been on American soil for a month, he watched as the leaves that fell around him changed from a luscious and vibrant green to earthy browns and deep reds and ambers. However, despite his time the team of Agents had not come any closer to finding Matthew, they were still stuck on that anagram. The only confirmation they received since finding it was that the blood spattered on the walls was indeed Matthew's, which not only served as proof of the anagrams importance, but also of the immense danger he was in.

Arthur could see the passing days without answers taking its toll on the youngest of the agents, Alfred, whom sank deeper and deeper into the mission, spending all waking hours working intensely hard before jumping to illogical conclusions, only to be shot down again and again; however no one could deny the fact that he was trying.

"Arthur," Arthur heard Ludwig call from his office, Arthur looked back from the door to see the blonde German standing up the doorframe, before gesturing to the Brit to follow him into his office.

"Yes?" Arthur asked as he stepped into Ludwig's large office, to see the German leaning on the large dark wooden desk that sat in the centre of the room that was accompanied by an amazing view of the bustling city of Washington DC.

"We really appreciate your services to the case, however, there's something else that I'd like to ask of you," Ludwig began.

Arthur frowned, somewhat dreading what Ludwig was about to say, despite not having the slightest idea of what it was. "Look after yourself. I understand that you are still feeling the effects of what happened to your brother, you jumped right back into work after physically recovering, and that was hardly fair. Besides, my brother warned me to care for your emotional stability."

"I don't need any of that," Arthur exclaimed as he crossed his arms over his chest, "my mental health is fine."

"Whatever you say," Ludwig rolled his eyes, "then think of this as another mission, watch for Agent Jones'."

"Alfred?" Arthur asked.

"You see the toll this is taking on him, you two do have a lot that you can talk about," Ludwig pointed out, "I believe you two can help each other make sense of each other's situations, besides; I don't like the sight of that boy struggling to understand what happened to Matthew, and break himself in order to fix it. Alfred is capable of being a great agent, and you are a great agent; you can bring it out of him."

"What shall you have me do?" Arthur asked.

"Take him out of the office tonight, take him to dinner or a bar, or wherever he feels comfortable, just … be his friend, he works best when he has one of those," Ludwig explained.

"Heh," Arthur chuckled as Feliciano made his way into Ludwig's office, carrying a mug of coffee, smiling at Arthur as he made his way past. "You make it sound like a date."

"Not if you don't want it to be…" Feliciano chuckled before handing the mug to Ludwig, "Just… be there for him, like how Matthew was… It'd really help him."

"You all seem to be taking this case personally…" Arthur pointed out.

"How can we not? Matthew was… important to us," Ludwig admitted before glancing at Feliciano, "we must treat this case with the upmost of care, therefore, all of the agents involved should be in peak condition. Besides, Alfred has taken a liking to you; he had always been a fan of your work, you're a hero to him."

Arthur's cold exterior crumbled as he made his way from the office to the downstairs training area, following the lead that Alfred would be down there. Waiting in the elevator, Arthur couldn't help but feel unusually nervous, would Alfred be offended if he knew that Arthur was put up to this? Would he even say yes?  
Arthur shook his head, before reminding himself that he wasn't being asked to date the American, he just had to be friends with him. Besides, even if Arthur wanted to date him, he knew that he'd be playing a dangerous game because he's due back in London as soon as the case is closed; no matter how it ends. Arthur smirked as though he had to shield is smothering insecurities from himself, it's not like he wanted to date him anyways, sure he knew that he liked men more than women, and that Agent Jones was rather pleasing to look at… With his bright blue eyes, shaped perfectly behind delicate eyelashes … a charismatic and infectious smile …. An impressive physique…

"Urhh…" Arthur groaned as he tilted his head back, pulling himself away from that hopeless fantasy, his teeth ran along his lower lip as the elevator doors opened. Arthur stepped out of the elevator and walked down the dark concrete hallway, hearing multiple bangs coming from the room at the end, Arthur nodded towards the man who sat at the receptionist desk as he handed over his ID, before being patted down by the security guard. Arthur found it so ironic that he had to be patted down before entering the shooting range, and of course he had to point this out to the guard whose hands felt up Arthur's sides. Arthur was finally let into the range, but of course not before hearing a joke being made about his accent.

The rapid banging of guns became louder as Arthur walked by the empty booths, before looking to the one at the very end, to see a pair of black boots poking out, Arthur frowned as he picked up the pace, determined to find out why Alfred was lying down.

Until he stopped before the booth to see the American dressed in a black tank top, pants and boots, as well as covering his ears with industrial ear-muffs and glasses with orange lenses, he was lying on the floor, assuming the sniper positon, with a large and intimidating weapon sitting next to him on a small tripod. Unaware of his audience, Alfred prepped the weapon for fire, unlocking the multiple safety switches before shuffling to peer through the telescope that was propped on top of the weapon. Arthur looked to the end of the range to see that a target had been set up in the shape of a man's body. Arthur jumped with fright as the gun fired bullets rapidly, littering the canvas with bullet holes with the fair majority proving to be shots of lethal quality.

Arthur smirked proudly as he waited for Alfred's gun-frenzy to calm before making himself known, "Impressive."

"AH!" Alfred cried as he rolled over, pulling a smaller gun out of the holster that sat on his waist, promptly pointing it at the Brit.

"How the hell did you get that past security?" Arthur asked.

 _"Jesus Christ man, do not fucking scare me like that!"_ Alfred wheezed as he put down his gun, and laid on the concrete ground and pressed his hands into his forehead and groaned, as though he was recovering from a heart attack.

"You seem to spend a lot of time here…" Arthur pointed out, "I don't know whether I should find that impressive or concerning."

Alfred reached for Arthur as he sat up, beckoning to the Brit to help him up. "I dunno… it clears my head a little. Besides, nothing beats acting out a fantasy."  
Arthur didn't have to ask to figure out what kind of fantasy he was talking about.

"Anyways, I was down here to ask you something," Arthur pointed out.

"What?" Alfred asked as he picked up the large gun from the ground, before breaking it apart and setting it into the case.

Arthur could feel a lump form in his throat as he choked on his words, only with _'it's not a date'_ chiming through his head like an irritating nursery rhyme. "Would you like to go out tonight?"

Alfred looked up at Arthur, his eyes widening before he looked away silently, before thinking deeply, "I suppose … but… I need to help find Matt…"

"You do a lot, you don't work well when your mind is too occupied," Arthur pointed out, "A night off will do you some good."

Alfred stared at the Brit, only for Arthur to avert his gaze, focussing back on the holey canvas. "Sure. Why are you going red?"

"It's warm in here…" Arthur snapped.

"It's freezing," Alfred pointed out, chuckling in amusement, "is this a…"

 _"No."_ Arthur exclaimed, "just, meet me in the lobby after work, we'll go somewhere for dinner, don't make me wait."

"Yes, sir…" Alfred purred as Arthur rushed to make a poised exit, trying his best to hide his raging heartbeat.

Despite spending the remaining hours of his workday intensely studying Braginski's file and trying to note any details of importance of which could point to his next move, however all he could think of was how he was going to greet Alfred after work. His heart tightened as he tried to write down correlating aspects of all of Braginski's former kidnappings.  
There were things that stood out to Arthur the most: chaos and irregularity. Each time Ivan Braginski kidnapped someone, there was irregularity in his choices of locations, ransom demands and outcome. Sometimes there would be no ransom at all: a person would just disappear, only for the family or the workplace of the victim to receive a video where Ivan just speaks about the unfairness and ugliness of the modern world. No demands, no reason, no outcome... Just chaos.

Eventually the time came for Arthur to rise from his desk and put his laptop into his bag, before making his way down the stairs, becoming increasingly aware of every agent who walked by him. In this sea of suits and ties he waited for one in particular, he stood alone before the printed symbol of the eagle on the floor.

"Hey…" he heard, Arthur looked to his side to see Alfred walking towards him, smiling nervously.

"Why do you look so nervous?" Arthur asked, putting on a face that reflected the confidence he wished he could have.

"I don't know…" Alfred answered before walking out of the building with Arthur, "do you know where you want to go?"

"I don't know, I've never been to America before…" Arthur pointed out.

"Well… I know a great Japanese place near my apartment, has some great sushi, sake… if you like that kind of thing," Alfred explained, "and I assume that we'll be using my car...?"

"I suppose it isn't a wise idea to have me driving on the wrong side of the road," Arthur quipped.

Alfred's car was nice, a reflection of his confidence and charisma, Arthur melted into the leather seat as he was driven around by the American agent.  
"What's London like?" Alfred asked.

"Romantic, every piece of ground has a story to tell…" Arthur explained, remembering his home city with a warm smile. "Despite how tight and loud it can be, it has this indescribable charm and aura of mystery…"

"I've always wanted to go there… the most European experience I've ever had is an exchange in Spain for a couple of months." Alfred admitted.  
Reluctantly, however quickly, Arthur began to relax his guard around the American, telling him more about his home city, as well as his travels. After Alfred parked his car in the carpark of his apartment complex, the two began to walk down the road, Alfred leading the way, promising Arthur satisfying Japanese cuisine. Along the way Alfred shared the same information as Arthur had in the car; this new information slowly make Arthur become more and more attached towards the city, as well as the man within it.

The restaurant was charming, yet quiet, so the pair quickly got a table and immediate service.

"What drew you to join MI6?" Alfred asked, "I read up on you before you got here, you've foiled assassination attempts against royals, ministers, and solved dozens of kidnappings."

"You've done your homework…" Arthur muttered, before taking a heft sip of his sake, "Well… it was my brother…"

"Oh…" Alfred sighed.

"He made it his goal to join, and since I was the littlest, I wanted to outdo him… so I joined too…" Arthur explained, "Eventually we both made it, and were chucked into a partnership, fate decided to pull a joke on us… however, we worked great together… so perhaps it was for the best…" Arthur's eyes narrowed as he stared around the red interior decorating of the restaurant, acknowledging their accurate taste in Japanese culture and aesthetically pleasing atmosphere. "Yourself?"

"Well… I grew up in LA, so I constantly saw the CIA in movies and TV; I wanted to be one of those cool guys in sunglasses with the gun, who had the sick moves and catchy lines," Alfred chuckled, before downing some sake.

"Hah, charming," Arthur chuckled sarcastically.

"Come on, your excuse is sibling rivalry," Alfred pointed out.

"Touché," Arthur quipped.

"You know… Matt would be so pumped if he knew that an expert like you was working on his case…" Alfred pointed out, tracing his finger over his coaster, staring at it intensely. Arthur began to notice a shade of darkness take place in Alfred's eyes and immediately recognised it as the darkness that had been hovering in his nightmares ever since that fateful day where his brother was taken from him…

"Are you ok?" Arthur asked.

"I just… I feel like it was my fault, you know… Ivan knew what to do to get me to fall right into his trap. He may as well have left a fucking trail of breadcrumbs and I would have still found myself there… Tied up, feeling a saw touch my feet, hearing Matt cry…" Alfred confessed. "It's my fault..."

"No, Ivan had a plan and he made sure that it was going to work. If this plan hadn't worked, he would have found another way, and judging by the Russian's history: it would have gone much worse." Arthur explained as the waiter placed a plate of an assortment of sushi on the table.

"It just… feels good to admit that's how I feel, out loud," Alfred admitted.

"I suppose this is better than you shooting your pain away…" Arthur pointed out before sighing, "And to be honest… I know how that feels… Allistor, my brother was taken from me, and the man who did it looked me dead in the eyes and said…" Arthur took in a deep breath, before downing a mouthful of sake, determined to make it through his story, despite his crumbling composure, he still could not bring himself to speak, as the mental image of the Frenchman's eyes pulled him further and further away from mental peace.

"It's ok…. You don't need to finish it…" Alfred pointed out, reaching over the small table to touch the Brit's shoulder and rub it. Arthur tilted his head into the Americans hand, feeling Alfred's knuckles press into his cheek. "I guess… it's nice to know that there's someone who knows how I feel…"  
Alfred's hand shifted from Arthur's shoulder to his cheek, encouraging the Brit to lift his head and to look at him, Arthur didn't know whether it was the sake, or the underlying calling of his hearts. Suddenly his plan to not make this a date were thrown out the window after the stare in Alfred's eyes called for something more.

The night drew out a side of Arthur that he hadn't seen in a long time, Arthur laughed at terrible jokes, flirted like a master, as though Alfred had fought away the demons that haunted him, and it was refreshing.

Eventually the two decided to leave, and Alfred made a terrible remark that had something to do with 'Netflix', but Arthur was too giddy to care. The cold wind embraced the agents as they walked down the street.

"It's cold…" Alfred pointed out, casually placing his arm around Arthur's shoulders and pulling him into his side.

"Mr Jones, are you trying to seduce me?" Arthur chuckled as he ran his hand up the Americans back, feeling the soft fabric underneath his thick and warm jacket, Alfred gasped at the touch.

"Perhaps… if this is a date… we still haven't clarified that, you know…" Alfred pointed out.

"Hmm…" Arthur hummed loudly, aggressively ignoring the instinct within him that tried to remind him of his temporary time with this man… He wanted a good time, and he knew that he deserved it… all of the risks and pain became worth it…

"Well… would spending the night in my apartment help you decide?" Alfred asked as he stopped working, and stepped in front of Arthur, leaning into him.

"Of definitely…" Arthur whispered, embracing this new risk-taking side of himself. He was ready to embrace this chance, and he was going to take it with full momentum, no longer afraid of his own pain, he was going to break every rule he had set for himself…

Arthur could only see a smile curve Alfred's lips as the American leant in, determined to seal the deal with a kiss…

 _'Buzz, Buzz…' … 'Buzz, Buzz…'_

"Fuck…" Arthur hissed as he took his phone out of the pocket of his jacket, allowing both he and Alfred to read the contact that was calling him. "Ludwig? Why is he calling us at this hour?"

"Perhaps you should answer it, it'd probably be quick…" Alfred pointed out, hooking his arm around Arthur as he joined Arthur in listening to the phone-call.

"Hello?" Arthur asked.

"Arthur! How quickly can you get back to the base?" Ludwig asked.

Immediately Alfred and Arthur looked at each other and grimaced, "A little bit, Alfred and I will need to get a cab—"

"Wait, you two are together?" Ludwig asked.

"Yes. We just had dinner," Arthur pointed out, "we had a bit to drink so—"

"Doesn't matter, you two will need to hear this while it's new, we need to act quickly," Ludwig explained.

"Lud, what's going on?" Alfred asked into the phone.

Alfred and Arthur heard Ludwig sigh through the phone, "We found a body…"


	7. Chapter 7

With haste, Alfred and Arthur made their way back to the CIA headquarters, both too worried about the fact that Ludwig said that a body had been discovered to discuss what was about to happen between them, and what it implied.

Arthur looked at the American and could see in his eyes that he was anticipating the worst as the two stood silently in the elevator. Despite the presence of a sake-induced headache, Arthur was still thinking clearly; he had always had an amazing alcohol tolerance, despite the buzz of a beautiful moment clouding his judgement long enough to make him forget about his situation. Arthur concluded that Ludwig's interruption was for the best….

Arthur couldn't help but wonder whether he would have really gone through it, and he doubted that he would have resisted the chance to feel some intimacy. Arthur crossed his arms over his chest as he internally scolded himself for straying from his set path, and now he had to face working with the man who he nearly spent the night with.  
Arthur glanced at Alfred, wondering if he was feeling the same way.

However, Arthur blocked out his sense of curiosity: he has a job that he needs to focus on, he had never risked his career for a relationship before, and he wasn't going to start now. He could only hope for his own sanity that Alfred was feeling the same way… the American's silence towards the topic could be taken as a signal to avoid the topic.

"Ludwig would have said something if it was him," Arthur pointed out, breaking the silence.

"I know," Alfred replied as he shoved his hands deeper into his pocket, "but I just can't help but worry…"  
When the doors opened the agents stormed down the hallway and past their individual desks before entering Ludwig's office, where the German and his Italian companion were by his desk.  
"Who is it?"

"He was a man who was a known associate of Ivan Braginski, Toris Laurinaitis." Ludwig explained, "His body was discovered by picnickers in a lake just outside the city."  
Ludwig slid a piece of paper across the table, showing Arthur and Alfred a photo of an incredibly pale man with long brown hair, an obvious post-mortem shot.  
"Alfred, do you recognise him?"

Alfred gasped at the sight of the man, covering his mouth with his hand as he recoiled in shock, "He was there when Matthew was kidnapped, and he spoke on the phone and said the location! He was in on it!"

"Well… now he's dead. Literally stabbed in the back," Feliciano explained, "Ivan's turned against one of his companions; he's done that before. Investigators point it to an underlying sense of insecurity, and paranoia, leading him to turn against those around him, out of fear that they're plotting against him."

"My god…" Arthur gasped, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He's obviously getting anxious, becoming more paranoid of the people around him, this could mean that things are getting worse for Matthew," Ludwig pointed out.

"Where was the body found?" Arthur asked, "Perhaps his location can give us some ideas as to where Matthew is."

"Just on the outside of the city, rural areas, in fact, an area that we haven't searched yet," Feliciano explained. "I think he was in an area in a town near McArthur."

"McArthur…" Alfred muttered as he frowned, deep in thought, "Matthew said something about going to McArthur once…"

"Yes, he went to a High School there during his reformation, he attended classes: of course with the presence of armed guards," Ludwig explained. "I let him say that he studied there if anybody asked where he graduated High School."

"Hang on…" Arthur frowned, "perhaps this has something to do with the code we found in the subway. M.A.H.S…"

"McArthur High School…" Alfred gasped, as a sudden wave of shock and realisation shook through the office.

"Oh my god…" Feliciano gasped.

"HOW DID WE MISS THAT?!" Ludwig hissed as he turned in his chair to look at his computer, waiting for it to turn on, before he looked to Alfred and Arthur. "It makes sense, the school closed just over three years ago, the building is vacant. It is close to the city…"

Feliciano gasped loudly as he quickly covered his mouth with his hand, staring at the screen with a glare of fear, "no…"  
Ludwig looked to the screen and frowned before slamming his fist onto the desk and cursing in German.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked as he and Alfred walked around the desk to join the two agents on the other side, only to be confronted with an unusual looking login screen.

The screen's background was a deep red colour where the icon of a black bear with white eyes and a white smile, in timed movements, the bears head tilted from one side to the other as it sat above the login screen, as though teasing the group of agents.

"It's Matthew…" Ludwig groaned.

"Matt did this?!" Alfred gasped.

"He did it years ago, and now he's done it again…" Feliciano explained as he began to type into the login bar, before attempted to unlock the computer, only for the colours to invert and shake rapidly as the computer rejected Feliciano's password. "Knowing Ivan, he's made sure to fix the mistakes that Matthew made the first time."

"What has he done exactly?" Arthur asked.

"He has locked us out of our own system," Feliciano explained, "He now has access to everything on our systems including files and private information of every agent affiliated with the CIA. He's essentially forced the entire organisation out the door and locked it behind them. Just like what he did last time…"

"Goddammit…" Ludwig hissed, "he's probably done this to every computer under the CIA, just like last time."

"If history repeats itself, next we'll receive a bomb-threat, however, this time I think he may actually go through with it…" Feliciano sighed as he attempted to break through the login screen once again; however, he was rejected once again. "It's going to take me forever to get through this! It'll take longer than last time!"

"But we only found him last time because he made a mistake, Braginski is involved now, and he does not make mistakes." Ludwig sighed, "We need to check that high school right away…"

Promptly, Alfred and Arthur took the job, agreeing to meet in the morning to plan their attack; they needed the night to pass so they were at their best.  
Arthur knew that Alfred was watching him as he walked away, as he could feel the same urge to resolve their evening linger deep within his heart, however, they both couldn't deny that they had a duty.  
As soon as the door to Arthur's hotel room opened, Arthur rushed to get into bed, determined to be completely rested before his mission in the morning and forget the emotional ties he received that night. As he got ready for bed, the Brit could only ponder about what it would have been like inside of Alfred's apartment, and how far they would have gone had they made it there before Ludwig called…  
He decided to put this behind him and blame his twisted curiosity on the sake as he laid his head down on the pillow and drifted into sleep.

Before he knew it, he was screaming and covered in rubble, with the heavy weight of concrete and pieces of ceiling crushing his legs. He moaned in pain as he stared at his brother's back, as he lay motionless in the debris, with the sickening shade of red oozing from an ugly gunshot wound on his back.

"Allistor!" Arthur cried, begging for his brother to move, "Allistor!"

Arthur struggled to breathe against his own fear, he could only hold his head and scream loudly, begging for the nightmare to end, as he had seen the same image dozens of times since that fateful day.

More gunshots rang through Arthur's ears, forcing the Brit to sit up and scream out in fear, only to open his eyes and find himself in a dark hotel room, wet from his sweating. Arthur groaned loudly, angry at the fact that his nightmare returned, before he rolled onto his stomach and tightened his grip on the pillow, unable to compose himself. Arthur knew that he was not going back to sleep. Arthur cursed at himself for thinking that his nightmare was going to let him be free.

"I'm sorry, Allistor…"

Despite his tiredness, he still arrived back at Ludwig's office at the set time, to see Alfred inspecting a line of guns that laid across Ludwig's desk.

"Morning."

"Morning…" Alfred replied, before turning to offer Arthur a shoulder holster which had two pistols secured. "I also left a bullet-proof vest for you on the chair right there."

"Cheers…" Arthur murmured as he walked past Ludwig's desk to look at his chair, where a black bullet proof vest sat.

"Lud and Feli are downstairs; they're with the tech-guys, trying to figure out how to break through Matthew's digital wall... You are I are going to go to McArthur…" Alfred explained as he finished loading the last weapon before looking up at Arthur, "about last night… I uh… I'm sorry for being so forward."

"Please, we shouldn't speak about this now," Arthur murmured as he pulled the straps on his bullet proof vest, tightening it around his chest, "However; I share the blame for how far it went…"

"R-right," Alfred murmured as he placed his shoulder holster over his shoulders, "If he's there, I'm not leaving that school without Matt, I'm sure you understand that."

"Of course," Arthur replied, "I don't expect anything less…"

It was then that the fact hit Arthur; if Matthew is being kept at McArthur High School, and they rescue him that day; the mission will be over and Arthur will have to return home. Arthur supposed that it was best that nothing had happened between them, he would have hated having to leave so quickly. Arthur couldn't help but sigh with relief.

"Now… Are you ready to go and get Matt?" Alfred asked, smiling as he put on his fitted black jacket, effectively masking the presence of his shoulder holster.

Arthur smiled at the American, "Let's go and get your agent back."


	8. Chapter 8

"Now, the plans are to grab Matthew and get out of there," Arthur explained, "and arrest Braginski if the opportunity presents itself."

"Are you kidding me? Who the hell are you, don't you kill when you're on your missions? Of course I'm gonna shoot that Russians ASS!" Alfred replied harshly as he pressed down on the accelerator, speeding down the street.

"Alfred, calm down!"

"I can't, this is my best friend, and I am going to get him back, no matter what!" Alfred replied, "It's my fault that he was taken, and I am going to make it up to him and reverse all of the damage I've done!"  
Arthur frowned as he glanced at his watch, before looking out of the window, watching the streets go by.

As McArthur High School came closer into the view of the two Agents, the state of the school grounds became clearer, the grass had not been cut, the doors were bolted shut, the building was in such a state of disarray, it looked as though its foundations could crumble at any second. It would be the perfect hideout… Alfred parked the car a couple of blocks away from the building, a safe enough distance to avoid any suspicions… Just like the building, the streets around it were also dead, no pedestrians or other cars passed the two agents as they crept towards the school, keeping their backs to the wall and their guns in their hands. As they came closer to the building they silenced themselves and reverted to hand signals and glares to communicate. They snuck over the fence before falling to the ground, using the long grass as cover, eventually they made it to the building itself. The glass had been broken in the large glass doors that left a large hole, big enough for the agents to sneak through. Immediately; Alfred and Arthur noticed a large collection of cords and electrical wiring, they looked at each other and nodded, agreeing to follow the cords and see where they lead; believing it to be a clue.

The cords led them up a staircase and past many sets of lockers, all of which were in a shocking state, the floor was covered in dirt and weeds were sprouting out from cracks in the walls, graffiti was prayed all over the walls and lockers, ranging from stupid tags to thought-provoking political statements. However, as the Agents followed the cords, they began to notice more and more branching out from different rooms, all leading into the same room.

The door to the room was the only room in the entire school that was shut; in fact, it was probably the only door that was intact, despite still being covered in graffiti. Alfred and Arthur looked to each other as they dropped to the floor and moved towards the room where all of the cords were leading to. The agents pressed their backs against the wall in front of the door pressing their ears against the wooden door, listening into the classroom; and they widened their eyes when they heard voices from the other side of the door.  
Alfred and Arthur stared into each other's eyes, trying to decide their next movement; naturally Alfred opted to just charge into the room with their guns ready. However Arthur wanted to stay put and keep on listening, just in case if they were swarming a group of squatters, rather than the Russian terrorist and his hostage. After about a minute of silent bickering they eventually agreed to storm the room, this seemed too convenient to be a group of squatters: why would they have so many cables if they weren't planning to disrupt the CIA computer system.

It was Alfred who kicked the door open and marched into the classroom with his gun at the ready, screaming, "CIA! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"  
When Alfred and Arthur finally got a look into the room, they were shocked by the technological set up, dozens of computers created a circle within the centre of the room, and three figures stood in the middle of the circle, all illuminated by the light of the computer screens.

Alfred immediately recognised Matthew, as he sat in the desk chair, he looked tired, hungry, and was a lesser form of his usual self, and the sight disgusted Alfred to the core. The taller man who stood behind Matthew loomed over his Canadian hostage, wearing a white buttoned up shirt and black pants, Alfred gasped when he recognised him as the kidnapper himself: Ivan Braginski, Alfred's ultimate enemy.

The third man… however…

"N-no..." Arthur stuttered as his gun began to shake in his hands as the Brit began to tremble. Alfred glanced over at Arthur, to see his eyes widen with shock as he stared intensely at the third man.

Arthur couldn't believe the sight with his own eyes, he refused to believe that this was real; it had to be his PTSD playing a cruel joke on him, no way was fate going to be so cruel to the Englishman.  
However, those piercing blue eyes, the soft blonde hair that bordered his face… it was all too much, too real…  
 _Francis…_ It was him…  
Arthur was frozen on the spot, unable to move other than the uncontrollable trembling of his hands and the buckling of his knees. His heart strained as Francis began to move towards Matthew, before kneeling down next to the hostage, before smiling and planting a kiss on the young man's head.

"Agent King! It's been too long!" Francis cheered, confusing Alfred even more.

"You know him?" Ivan asked, acting as though Alfred's gun _wasn't_ pointed right at him.

"An old friend of mine, did you miss me Arthur? See me in your dreams?" Francis chuckled, "Oh Arthur, it's about time you met my son…"

"S-son…" Arthur gasped, before the fact hit him…

"Isn't the resemblance amazing?" Francis asked as he rubbed Matthew's blonde hair, pointing out how similar the father and son looked, "I'd like you to meet my son, Mathieu Bonnefoy."

"How is that possible?" Arthur asked, shaken by the amazing coincidence.

"Before I met you, I lived in Canada, I had a family, until _problems_ with the CIA forced me to go to Europe … leaving my precious son behind… I had plans to return and collect him when he was of age, until I learn that he had been taken to the CIA by Agent Jager!" Francis explained, "But now I'm back, and I'm never letting Mathieu leave my side again!"

"Matt…" Alfred gasped.

"Alfred, I'm sorry!" Matthew hissed, his hands falling into his hands, "I'm so sorry for breaking the system again! I should have told you about me!"

"It's ok, Matt," Alfred replied before lifting his gun, reminding Matthew's captors of its presence, "now! Put your hands up!"

Ivan and Francis looked at each other, before Ivan grabbed Matthew and flung him over his shoulder; Francis pulled out his gun and began to shoot at the two agents who ducked for cover from the gunfire as Ivan ran out of the backroom.

"Go, you get Matthew; I'll take care of the Frenchman!" Arthur explained as Alfred began to crawl along the floor, using the computers as cover from Francis' rapid fire.

The sight of Francis shooting at Alfred struck a chord deep within Arthur, he could no longer hear Alfred's screams… he could hear Allistor, Allistor begging him to help, begging him to do something, and Arthur could no longer ignore it. His former fear manifested and transformed into nothing but pure rage, he rose from the floor and knocked down a table of computers, creating a path to Francis.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Arthur screamed as he pistol-whipped the Frenchman in the face, giving Alfred the window he needed to run out of the room and follow Ivan and Matthew.  
Arthur and Francis fell to the ground, with Arthur taking this as an opportunity to straddle the Frenchman and wrap his hands around his throat, looking into his eyes as he took away his ability to breathe. "I'll make you suffer for what you did to Allistor…"

 _"Shame!"_ Francis hissed as he kneed Arthur in the backside, toppling the Brit over, both men reached for their guns, Arthur released the first shot, only for the bullet to zoom past Francis' head, barely missing him.

The two men rose to their feet, Francis attempted to grab at Arthur's gun, however, the Brit wouldn't give in, engulfed in rage; Arthur kicked the Frenchman in the stomach, sending him into the desk, nearly toppling it over. "What are you doing working with a loon like Braginski?"

"Simple," Francis chuckled as he wiped a line of blood off of his bottom lip, "he promised me my son back… and so far, he has delivered."

Without another word, Francis leapt into Arthur, smacking the Brit across the head which knocked him to the ground, before Francis took his chance to swipe his gun off of the ground and run out of the back door.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM ME!" Arthur hissed as he ran out of the classroom, following the Frenchman as he ran down the hallway.  
Arthur shot at Francis' feet as he run; he didn't want to kill him, not yet at least: Arthur was determined to leave Francis here for dead, like how he had done to Allistor. Francis knew to run erratically to avoid Arthur's shots, or at least throw him off, until he turned around and shot at Arthur, hitting the Englishman in the arm, despite his injury, Arthur shot again, and got Francis in the hand, knocking away his gun, and spraying blood on the Frenchman's pants.  
Francis quickly turned around and ran, with Arthur following him, determined to even their disabilities. However, Francis turned into a room and when Arthur followed; he froze at the sight of Ivan holding a gun to Matthew's head and Alfred standing before them, holding his gun shakily.

"NO!" Francis snapped hitting the gun away from Matthew's head, starling angrily at the Russian, "I warned you that if you hurt him—"

"I was only threatening—"

"Step away from Matt, both of you!" Alfred commanded, however in response, both Francis and Ivan lifted their guns and pointed them at the American.

"Alfred, look behind them…" Arthur murmured as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Alfred. It was then that Alfred finally took the time to look past his terrified best friend, and see what stood behind the trio… propped on the table was a large and dark device, with a small screen that flashed multiple numbers, scattered around the room were other bomb-like devices, all connected to each other with wires… the entire room had been built into a massive bomb. "What have you got set up here?"

"Heh… isn't it obvious, we've built a bomb, of course we couldn't have done it without Mathieu's help," Ivan explained, his eyes narrowing towards Alfred.

"I'm so sorry, Al…" Matthew wheezed as Francis placed his hand on his sons shoulder.

"How the hell did you find us?!" Ivan asked, "I left nothing behind; no clues! I didn't even send a second video! Nothing!"

The room fell silent as a mischievous smile was drawn across Matthew's lips, as all eyes fell on the Canadian, "Oops…"

 _"You little SHIT!"_ Ivan hissed angrily as he drew his gun at Matthew's head, "I don't need you alive anymore!"

"NO!" Francis screamed as Ivan pulled the trigger just as Francis pulled Matthew back and stepped in the way, forcing himself between Matthew and the bullet, taking it into his chest. Francis' chest exploded with bright red colour as he stumbled back, his eyes wide with shock and fear. Francis fell back, landing on Matthew who screamed with horror. Despite his error, Ivan shot again, hitting Francis again; delivering the fatal blow to the Frenchman's chest, worsening his wound and creating more of a mess. Alfred and Arthur gasped in shock as Francis fell to the floor and into Matthews's arms as the Canadian began to cry.

"Mathieu…" Francis whispered, running his bloodied hand over his sons cheek as he cried, "I'm sorry…"

"PAPA!" Matthew screamed as Ivan stumbled back, chuckling at his bloodlust.

"What a shame…" Ivan chuckled, "Granted, I was going to kill him when this was over, but to go in such a fashion…"

"It's over Braginski; you don't have to die too!" Arthur explained as he and Alfred began to step towards the frantic Russian, the distraught Canadian and the dead Frenchman.

"No… I do…" Ivan hissed as he smashed his fist down on the control board, bringing the bombs screen to life, Alfred and Arthur gasped as the bombs around them buzzed with activity. "I was going to save this for the CIA offices, but this bomb is big enough to wipe the entire town off of the map, so this will have to do!"

Matthew screamed as he rose to his feet and tackled the Russian, jumping onto his back and grabbing at the Russian's scarf. "DO IT! SHOOT HIM NOW! DO IT NOW!"

Without a second thought Arthur shot his weapon, firing directly into the Russian's chest, and Alfred finished it with the second shot. Matthew let go of Ivan, letting him fall to his feet. Matthew stood, trembling at the knees as he stood between the dead bodies of his captor and his father… Alfred ran to Matthew, taking his best friend in for a hug.

"I'M SO SORRY!" Alfred cried as he hugged his best friend.

"NO! I AM!" Matthew cried.

"OI! Finish the reunion later, what did Braginski do!?" Arthur asked as he ran to the control board of the bomb.

"He's started the countdown…" Matthew sighed, "We have at least ten minutes to stop it…"

"That's a long lasting bomb…" Arthur pointed out.

"It's … my design…" Matthew sighed, bowing his head in shame, "it builds up in strength, until it cannot contain itself any longer and explodes, destroying everything; papa and Ivan pretty much took my bomb and put it on steroids, so it's going to be disastrous…"

"Can we stop it?" Alfred asked as the three gathered around the device.

"You two need to find Ivan's car and get my toolbox, it's parked across the street from the school," Matthew explained.

"Alright, Arthur—"

"No, you both need to go," Matthew interrupted.

Arthur frowned, "Why?"

"The car is rigged," Matthew explained, if someone doesn't hold the boot open, it will shut and cut off anything in its way. You're strong Alfred, you can do it. It's a black car, I don't know the model.

"What about you?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I have to stay here and begin defusing…" Matthew explained, "if I release some of the pressure, it will take longer to build up and explode. Please, just go, and hurry!"

"RIGHT!" Alfred cried, breaking into a run, leaving the classroom.

Arthur however, remained where he stood, staring at the trembling Canadian, "there is no car, is there?"

"No…" Matthew admitted, hanging his head over the control panel, "just…get Alfred out of here... I'm going to make sure that this bomb doesn't hurt anyone."

"But, you…"

"I don't care what happens to me anymore, I've messed up too many times. I don't want anyone else to die because of me…" Matthew explained as tears came to his eyes. "Just, get out of here!"

"You don't have to do this," Arthur pointed out.

"No, someone needs to stay here, I'm going to detonate the bomb early, so its impact isn't as bad…" Matthew explained, "I can't leave, but you can at least take Alfred with you. Heh… Tell Ludwig and Feli that I'm sorry for what I did, and Alfred too, please look after him for me, he was the first friend I ever had…" Matthew began to break down into frantic tears as he spoke, and his arms began to trembled. "Arthur, right? I can't believe they got Agent King to come and find me, it's an honour…"

"Matthew…" Arthur sighed.

"The login screen has a password, the screen looks like it can only fit five numbers, but it actually fits ten, this should fix the problem and set everything back to normal: 0198382341. Got it?" Matthew asked.

"Got it," Arthur replied.

"ARTHUR!" Alfred screamed, running back into the classroom, "Come on! We need to find the car!"

"Right!" Arthur replied, before looking back at Matthew, who refused to show Alfred his tears, "good luck…"

"Thank you…" Matthew sighed as Arthur ran out of the room, leaving Matthew alone with the device.

"You're a fool…" A familiar voice wheezed, Matthew jumped with surprise when Ivan began to move, he watched as the Russian dragged himself towards the wall, where he leant his back against the wall, so he could sit up and watch Matthew.

"I know, but you're the idiot who set it off…" Matthew replied, before he finally fell to his knees and released a loud cry, realising that it was all going to end for him. "I'm sorry Ludwig, I'm sorry Feli, I'm sorry Papa, I'm sorry Arthur, I'm sorry Alfred… I'm going to make things right again, I promise…"

Meanwhile, Arthur and Alfred ran through the grass outside of the school, Alfred was determined to find the car that Matthew described, Arthur however, wasn't as confident.

"Where the fuck is it?!" Alfred screamed as he began to run down the block.  
Arthur couldn't take it anymore; he looked away from Alfred and released a deep wheeze, feeling the tear form in his eyes… Matthew's sacrifice burned his heart, and the pain of watching Alfred fall for it drove him over the edge. "Arthur! HELP ME FIND IT!"  
Arthur couldn't hold it anymore, and his head fell into his hands as the Englishman began to cry.  
Arthur gasped when he felt Alfred's hands pull him into him, "Why are you crying!? What's going on?!" Arthur looked up and finally revealed the extent of his tears to Alfred, who cupped the Brit's face. "What… What is…"

Arthur watched with fear as Alfred's expression changed, as the realisation hit the American like a truck, Alfred's eyes widened as though he was a deer in headlights. "No…"

"Alfred!" Arthur cried as he grabbed the American, staying true to his promise, Arthur held Alfred back as the American began to scream and fight to get back to the school, desperate to get back in there and bring Matthew out.

"LET ME GO! I NEED TO GET HIM! LET ME GO!" Alfred screamed as he fought against Arthur's arms.

However… the agents froze when the ground began to shake and a loud boom echoed from the school. Alfred and Arthur watched with horror as half of the school collapsed and erupted into powerful flames as the entire section of school blew up, creating a small mushroom cloud above the school. Alfred could only scream as Arthur held him and felt the ground shake as the two Agents fell to their knees from the force of the earthquake that the bomb created.  
It wasn't long before the police and ambulance arrived, and all they found was Alfred and Arthur crying in each other's arms, covered in a blanket of dust.

A week had passed before Alfred finally arrived back at the CIA office; he was tired from the lack of sleep that was induced by the countless nightmares that kept him up at night… Alfred had been reduced to a stone cold _mess_ ever since he lost Matthew.  
He opened the door to Ludwig's office, starling the German and the Italian, Feliciano quickly ran to Alfred from behind Ludwig's desk, taking the American into his arms for a tight hug, whispering promises that everything was going to be ok. Despite Feliciano's sweetness, Alfred could not bring himself to smile.

"I'm going to be coming back to work now…" Alfred explained as his face remained stone-cold and blank…

"Are you sure?" Ludwig asked, "It's been a week since—"

"I know, I'm fine!" Alfred replied in a harsher tone. "When's Arthur coming back?"

At the mention of Arthur's name, Ludwig and Feliciano froze, which sent a shiver of anxiety down Alfred's spine.

"Alfred… Arthur works for MI6… _Not the CIA…"_ Ludwig explained.

"He needed to go home… we thought he told you that…" Feliciano pointed out.

"W-what…" Alfred gasped as he stumbled backwards, his heart aching with pain.

He completely understood why Arthur had to leave, he wasn't hurt by that… it was the fact that after everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks… he didn't say goodbye… Alfred had been struck by another bullet of grief and pain… and now he was left all alone to deal with it.

 **THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR READING SKYRIDER - I WANT TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW THAT A SEQUEL FOR SKYRIDER IS IN THE WORKS! THERE'S A NEW MYSTERY TO BE SOLVED, AND THIS TIME: IT'S PERSONAL.  
SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A STORY CALLED ****"FREE FALL"** **IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS, IT WILL BE UP SOON AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS YOU HAVE THIS!**


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